taylor hansen cecu

=trade gp as buffer (also pool of $)no lnx
Veterans groups have been asking Congress to close a loophole in the GI Bill that enables for-profit colleges to exploit veterans. The main lobbying group of the scam-plagued industry is fighting back and has recruited Fox News host Pete Hegseth to support their cause. Hegseth has denied that for-profit schools have preyed on veterans, attacked veterans groups as being “really drunk on the swamp,” and said he could potentially lobby President Donald Trump on the issue.
Hegseth also wrote a FoxNews.com opinion piece in support of for-profit colleges, saying they are “improving the lives of veterans every day!” But Fox News didn’t disclose that Hegseth is working with the lobbying group. 
Hegseth is a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend. He also regularly advises Trump on military issues, including lobbying the president to pardon accused and convicted war criminals. Trump at one point last year reportedly considered Hegseth to serve as secretary of Veterans Affairs. 
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is a trade association that serves as the main lobbying organization of the for-profit college industry. The group spent $362,000 lobbying the federal government in 2018. 
The for-profit college industry has been plagued by reports of scams and fraudulent advertising that lead to many students ending up with essentially worthless degrees and large debts. Multiple states have taken action against the industry while the Trump administration has protected it. As NBC News reported in April, the Obama administration had “created new rules intended to help rein in the worst-performing schools and to protect taxpayer dollars. … Now, the Trump Administration is trying to overturn those rules — and veterans and low-income Americans are the most at risk. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has begun a months long process to unwind the Obama-era rules, easing oversight of for-profits’ use of tax dollars and protections for defrauded students.” 
The industry has also exploited veterans over the years. In a February New York Times op-ed, Veterans Education Success President Carrie Wofford and Student Veterans of America Executive Vice President James Schmeling explained that for-profit colleges target veterans because they “milk a federal loophole that allows them to count G.I. Bill benefits as private funds”:
Why are veterans the targets? Because for-profit colleges milk a federal loophole that allows them to count G.I. Bill benefits as private funds, offsetting the 90 percent cap they otherwise face on their access to taxpayer-supported federal student aid. Nearly two dozen state attorneys general have said this accounting gimmick — known as the “90/10 loophole” — “violates the intent of the law.”
Hundreds of for-profit schools are almost entirely dependent on federal revenue, and if the 90/10 loophole were closed, they would be in violation of this federal regulation. Taxpayers, in other words, are largely propping up otherwise failing schools.
In December, a damning Department of Veterans Affairs internal audit estimated the risk of G.I. Bill waste was exceptionally high at for-profit schools, which received over 75 percent of improper G.I. Bill payments. The report highlighted the schools’ deceptive advertising campaigns used to recruit veterans and warned that the government will waste $2.3 billion in improper payments over the next five years if changes are not made to reel in the abuse.
As a result of systematic problems, veterans groups have urged Congress to close the 90/10 loophole. 
In response, CECU recently formed Veterans for Career Education, which it claims “supports the right of veterans to use their earned education benefits to gain career skills at the college or institution of their choice.” CECU has also recruited Hegseth, an Army veteran, as a public face of its campaign. 
Hegseth gave a June 3 speech in New Orleans, LA, for CECU, during which he announced that he was working with the organization and attacked critics of the for-profit education industry.
Hegseth said that he’s “so excited to be working with” Michael Dakduk, a Marine Corps veteran who is CECU’s executive vice president, director of government relations, and a lobbyist for the organization. Hegseth later said: “I’m all-in on this effort. I cannot wait to get even more involved, go to Washington, be with this organization, be with the vets, travel around the country, put pressure on the folks that deserve to have pressure put on them.” 
During his speech, Hegseth offered an unapologetic defense of the for-profit schools industry, stating, “The fact that profit is made only makes these schools better”:
PETE HEGSETH: There’s a condemnation of profit. Since when did profit become a dirty word? There’s a belief that if you’re making money that’s a bad thing. I think the fact that profit is made only makes these schools better because it means you treat your students -- and having talked to a number of you before I came up here, there’s a beloved feeling toward the students you have in your institutions. They’re not just students, they’re also customers and as customers, you want to serve and meet their needs just like you want to meet the needs of the companies that would hire them in the future. And when you treat someone like a customer, it means you want them to come back. Or you want them to refer new customers to you. There’s an incentive. And if you look -- I’m going to talk a little bit about the VA and my fight against the VA and the VA bureaucracy. When bureaucracies and places treat you like a number, that’s when you are treated poorly because there’s no accountability to treat you like a customer. Profit is a good thing when channeled properly, and I’m not talking about the few cases where folks are messing around and not doing the right thing. Everybody knows that can happen. There’s bad actors in any industry, in any place. That’s not what we’re talking about here. 
Hegseth later claimed that “some of these extreme leftists, Democrats, unfortunately at this point, they’ll say that these college degrees are mediocre, worthless, that schools prey on vets. These are direct quotes. And you and I both know that is just not true. I can’t get involved in something that I don’t fundamentally believe in.”
He criticized veterans groups, claiming, “There are a lot of veteran organizations in Washington that say they support vets, but they also -- they really just want to get invited to the cocktail parties. They really just want to be loved by both sides. They’re really drunk on the swamp and the power and the access they have there, and they’ve forgotten about all the guys at the VFW post level or the Legion post level who are doing those jobs throughout America. They’re not the ones they serve anymore; it’s the special interests in Washington that they serve.” 
Hegseth spoke about his relationship with Trump, stating that he thinks “if anything were to ever pass in the House, in the Senate right now that restricted veterans choice it would get the fastest … veto stamp or pen you’ve ever seen. So, right now you've got a president that would veto the bad stuff. And if he ever gave me a call -- and sometimes he does -- I’d tell him that.” 
Hegseth also wrote a June 25 FoxNews.com opinion piece defending for-profit colleges, writing: “I’ve met these veterans. I’ve met these college administrators. Nobody is being duped. In fact, to the contrary, these schools are improving the lives of veterans every day!” He additionally attacked Rep. Donna Shalala (D-FL) for introducing legislation seeking to end the 90/10 loophole and criticized Democratic presidential candidates for allegedly "targeting veterans’ educational choices." The piece did not mention Hegseth’s ties to CECU.
It’s not immediately clear whether the multimillion-dollar lobbying organization is compensating Hegseth for his work. CECU did not respond to a request for comment. But the organization also worked with commentators Newt and Callista Gingrich -- the latter of whom is now the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican -- and compensated at least Callista. According to her financial disclosure report, the organization paid her an amount “exceeding $5,000 in a year.” 
Hegseth’s work on behalf of the for-profit college industry is another example of how Fox News has held the host to a low standard. The network has allowed Hegseth to keynote numerous Republican fundraisers and receive compensation for the speeches. Hegseth also repeatedly interviewed then-2018 Michigan Senate candidate John James on Fox News despite appearing with him at one of those fundraisers. (James is running for U.S. Senate in 2020.) 
Posted InEducation, Military Personnel & VeteransNetwork/OutletFox News ChannelPersonPete Hegseth=The placement of all these lobbyists as de facto — or actual — high-level agency staffers “raises the appearance that you could be attempting to influence public policy in favor of your former client,” said Meredith McGehee, chief of policy, programs and strategy at Issue One. “This isn’t saying that lobbyists are bad or evil, it’s simply saying the reason that you should have rules governing lobbyists in government is because they have been paid by private interests to promote the interests of their employer.”It makes a difference whether an individual lobbied last year of 10 years ago, McGehee said. Revolving door restrictions are written with time limits, because it’s understood your relationships with clients and freshness of information cool over time.One former for-profit college lobbyist has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-20/betsy-devos-hands-victory-to-loan-firm-tied-to-adviser-who-just-quit" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">already resigned</a> from his beachhead position at the Department of Education, where he worked for about a month. <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/for-profit-colleges-gain-beachhead-in-trump-administration" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Taylor Hansen lobbied</a> for Career Education Colleges and Universities until July 2016, where he focused on trying to weaken the “gainful employment” rule that puts for-profit schools’ federal funding at risk if their graduates don’t earn enough to pay back their student loans.<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/former-lobbyist-with-for-profit-colleges-quits-education-department" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">ProPublica reported</a> that soon after Hansen started working at Education, the agency began delaying deadlines for the gainful employment rule and is reviewing the implementation of the rule. Hansen told ProPublica he didn’t work on gainful employment while at the department.OpenSecrets Blog contacted the federal agencies with former lobbyist beachhead members about their ethics policies. The Department of Homeland Security was the only one to get back to us, and its response was vague:“Ethics training, consistent with U.S. Office of Government Ethics regulations, is provided to all political appointees,” said DHS spokesman David Lapan in an email. “DHS ethics attorneys conduct reviews for potential conflicts of interest and provide guidance to employees.”Nine beachhead members were registered lobbyists as recently as last year; eight of them have filed forms with the Senate deregistering from that work. General Mills <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=5353D9B4-81C9-4930-9E16-11DD659A7FC2&filingTypeID=78" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">has not filed paperwork</a> that shows Erika Baum ending her lobbying gig at the food company, although she is now an executive assistant to the Secretary of Transportation, according to ProPublica‘s data and lobbying records....ref
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-20/betsy-devos-hands-victory-to-loan-firm-tied-to-adviser-who-just-quit">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-20/betsy-devos-hands-victory-to-loan-firm-tied-to-adviser-who-just-quit</a>
Americans who default on some of their federal student loans are likely to pay more after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos reversed an Obama administration directive limiting some fees. But it turns out the Trump administration decision has some beneficiaries — including the father of a key DeVos lieutenant who just quit.
DeVos's decision, announced Thursday in a memorandum to the student loan industry, allows companies known as guaranty agencies to charge distressed student debtors fees equivalent to 16 percent of their total balance, even when borrowers agree within 60 days to make good on their bad debt.
The reversal is almost certain to hand United Student Aid Funds Inc., the nation's largest guaranty agency, a victory in its two-year legal battle against her department. The fees could translate into an additional $15 million in annual revenue for the company, filings in a related lawsuit suggest. Until Jan. 1, United Student Aid Funds was led by Bill Hansen, who served as Deputy Secretary of Education under President George W. Bush. His son, Taylor Hansen, a former for-profit college lobbyist, was until three days ago one of the few DeVos advisers with professional experience in higher education.
The younger Hansen resigned from the Education Department on Friday, department spokesman Jim Bradshaw said in an email. Hansen couldn't be immediately reached for comment on his departure.
Ben Miller, senior director for postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress, a persistent critic of the new Republican administration, said on Twitter the rule change was "an early Father's Day gift in the Hansen household." Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, was equally blunt: "There's no question" that Taylor Hansen's family ties posed a conflict of interest.
Tens of millions of dollars in revenue was at stake for companies such as United Student Aid Funds, which until 2015 had regularly charged borrowers the fee. A senior executive there last year warned in a court filing that the Obama administration's decision to prohibit the fees-and to remind the industry that such fees had long been banned-generated "potentially massive retroactive liability" for companies such as United Student Aid Funds in the form of federal fines and lawsuits from aggrieved debtors. The company reckons it levied as much as $119 million in these fees from 2007 to 2015, or about $15 million annually.
Meanwhile, other companies active in student loan matters faced the prospect of having to reverse years of assessed fees and unravel tens of thousands of borrowers' accounts to recalculate their balances, according to a legal filing last year by the National Council of Higher Education Resources, a Washington trade association. Had the Obama administration's decision stood, a federal judge warned in 2015 that the entire student loan industry faced the prospect of being sued for allegedly violating anti-racketeering laws by imposing the fees.
DeVos's decision is likely to put those concerns to rest.
With almost all senior positions at the Education Department vacant — and few political hires with professional experience in higher education — the younger Hansen may have wielded significant influence on DeVos's policies. With his departure, the department has yet another post to fill.
"We have no idea what Betsy DeVos thinks about or wants to do on higher education policy. If one of the key people advising her is someone whose close family member is hoping to charge defaulted borrowers a lot more money, that's not a good sign of her agenda," Miller said before the department announced Taylor Hansen's exit.
Both the Education Department and Bill Hansen's current organization, of which he is chief executive, Strada Education Network (formerly known as USA Funds), said there's no impropriety. Taylor Hansen recused himself from "all matters" related to United Student Aid Funds' lawsuit challenging the Obama administration directive, Bradshaw said. "He served ably and without conflict and decided his service had run its course," Bradshaw said Monday, declining further comment. But it's unclear whether Taylor Hansen's recusal extended to internal department discussions over the appropriateness of the fees. Bradshaw didn't answer additional questions, and Taylor Hansen didn't respond to emails, phone calls, and a message sent on social network LinkedIn seeking comment.
Bob Murray, a spokesman for Bill Hansen, said no one representing the company had asked Taylor Hansen to intervene on its behalf in its dispute with the department. Furthermore, he said, United Student Aid Funds is now owned by Great Lakes Higher Education Corp. Murray said that Bill Hansen declined to comment.
United Student Aid Funds said in court filings that the Obama administration unfairly changed longstanding Education Department policy when it announced in 2015 that fees added to quickly resolved defaulted loans were illegal. For example, according to industry lobby National Council of Higher Education Resources, the department had never flagged the fee as inappropriate in any of the more than 135 audits or reviews it conducted of companies such as United Student Aid Funds since 1992. The feds, the group said, "knowingly acquiesced for years." In the eyes of the industry, DeVos is simply righting a wrong by reversing Obama's move.
Bill Hansen nonetheless benefits from DeVos' decision. Strada is still liable for potential costs stemming from United Student Aid Funds' lawsuit against the Education Department, as well as a related class action lawsuit filed by borrowers over the same issue, said Richard George, chief executive of Great Lakes.
United Student Aid Funds reached a proposed settlement in January to resolve the proposed class action, filed by Minnesota resident Bryana Bible in 2013 on behalf of borrowers charged what she alleged to be illegal fees. The deal calls for 35,516 borrowers, and their lawyers, to split $23 million to partially reimburse them for as much as $119.1 million in fees assessed over eight years that, under Obama administration guidelines, they shouldn't have been charged. A federal judge is due to decide on the proposed settlement in June.
The now-permissible fees could also beneficially impact Strada's future revenue under an agreement that calls for Great Lakes to give Strada grants partly based on how United Student Aid Funds' loans perform, a person familiar with the matter said. When annualized, the fees represent about 13 percent of United Student Aid Funds' average annual income over the past five years, according to its financial reports.
For struggling borrowers, said Rohit Chopra, a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America who previously advised Obama's Education Department and was the top student loan official at the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "this just adds insult to injury."

Business Briefing from St. Louis Post-Dispatch\no lnxref
https://www.propublica.org/article/for-profit-colleges-gain-beachhead-in-trump-administration<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Until June 2016, Taylor Hansen <a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=4C54F5ED-BE56-436F-82AF-218654AC68D7&filingTypeID=51" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">lobbied</a> for the largest trade group of for-profit colleges. At the forefront of its <a href="https://www.republicreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/apscu-GE-strategy-02-14.pdf" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">agenda</a>: <a href="http://www.career.org/news/apscu-files-suit-against-anti-student-gainful-employment-regulation" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">eliminating</a> a rule known as “gainful employment,” which can take away federal funding from for-profit colleges if their graduates fail to earn enough to repay student loans.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Last week, that goal started to become a reality. The U.S. Department of Education <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/03/07/delay-gainful-employment-deadlines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">delayed</a> the deadline for colleges to comply with certain provisions of gainful employment, saying it plans to review the rule.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">By then, Hansen was watching from the inside, benefiting from the Trump administration’s <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-lobbying-ban-weakens-obama-ethics-rules-234318" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">ethics policies</a> that allow former lobbyists to work for agencies they have recently tried to influence. He told ProPublica that, about a month ago, the Trump administration hired him to join the Education Department’s “beachhead” team. It’s a <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/meet-hundreds-of-officials-trump-has-quietly-installed-across-government" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">group</a> of temporary employees, often with political connections, who do not require U.S. Senate approval for their appointments.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Hansen said that he isn’t working on gainful employment regulations. Still, his hiring shows how closely the Trump administration is in sync with the for-profit education industry, which has long been <a href="http://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/for_profit_report/ExecutiveSummary.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">criticized</a> for loading students with debt that they struggle to pay off. The sector’s <a href="https://markets.ft.com/data/indices/tearsheet/charts?s=SP1500-25302010:IOM" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">market value</a> and <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/Indicator_CHA/coe_cha_2014_05.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">enrollment</a> plunged under the Obama administration, which instituted the gainful employment rule, and chains such as Corinthian Colleges and ITT Educational Services shut down. Now, it anticipates a resurgence under President Donald Trump.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“It’s guaranteed that they will be more friendly,” said Steve Gunderson, president and CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities, or CECU, the for-profit college trade group where Hansen used to work. “We have an administration that is happy to talk with us and respond to our questions and comments.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">In contrast to its distant relationship with Obama’s education leadership, CECU has already been in close contact with the Trump administration, including face-to-face encounters, phone calls and emails, Gunderson said.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">CECU “started talking to the transition [team] shortly after the November election,” he said. “In defense of the Trump administration, the people we have met with thus far are all very careful of ethics protocols.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The three-month delay <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/03/07/delay-gainful-employment-deadlines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">announced</a> last week for colleges to submit appeals and publish disclosures about high debt loads under the gainful employment rule “signifies a recognition within the department that there are real problems with the regulations as they’ve been designed and implemented,” Gunderson added.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Both Trump and his education secretary are familiar with for-profit colleges. Trump owned a for-profit education company, and paid $25 million last November to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/politics/trump-university.html?_r=0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">settle</a>Trump University students’ allegations of high-pressure sales tactics and unqualified instructors. His education secretary, Betsy DeVos, has been a champion of privately run schools and has invested in at least one <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/news/2017/01/27/297572/inside-the-financial-holdings-of-billionaire-betsy-devos/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">company</a> with for-profit college holdings.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Marcella Goodridge-Keiller, an assistant general counsel at the Office of the General Counsel/Ethics at the Department of Education, said that all department hires are required to participate in an ethics briefing. The Education Department did not respond to requests for comment on Hansen’s appointment and on its relationship with for-profit colleges.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">From December 2013 to July 2016, Hansen <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-hansen-0a4b024/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">worked</a> as the director of legislative and regulatory affairs for CECU, formerly known as the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities. For the first half of last year, he was registered as one of its lobbyists.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">CECU has spent about $3.5 million over the past five years on lobbying on behalf of its more than <a href="http://www.career.org/membership.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">600</a> member institutions, which include a handful of nonprofit career colleges. Gunderson said that lobbying was not one of Hansen’s primary responsibilities. “Looking at his timesheets, we probably never should have registered him, but we err on the side of being careful,” he said, adding that Hansen mainly worked with the trade group’s member schools. After leaving CECU, Hansen briefly joined the Center for Education Reform, an advocacy group that promotes charter schools and voucher programs.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Under Obama administration policies, which banned lobbyists from joining any agency they had recently lobbied, Hansen would have been ineligible to work for the Education Department. Robert Shireman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a former deputy undersecretary of education under Obama, said that the rules helped prevent conflicts of interest.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“I remember people complaining that the rules went too far and kept experts out of the administration,” he said. “It was more important to err on that side and end up with a cleaner administration.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">During his campaign, Trump promised he would “<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/788853838191075328" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">drain the swamp</a>” and <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-before-would-have-no-problem-banning-lobbyists-trump-now-youre-hired" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">suggested</a> that he was open to banning lobbyists from working in his administration. Shortly after his inauguration, however, Trump signed an ethics order that <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-watered-down-ethics-rules-let-lobbyist-help-run-agency-he-lobbied" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">weakened</a> the rules put in place during the previous administration.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The order allows lobbyists to work at any agency, as long as they do not become involved in any “particular matter” that they lobbied on in the past two years. For Hansen, that would mean he’s barred from implementing or reshaping the gainful employment rule.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Hansen’s “beachhead” position at the Education Department lasts up to four months, he said, and could lead to a permanent role. His appointment is by no means an exception. As ProPublica has <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/meet-hundreds-of-officials-trump-has-quietly-installed-across-government" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">previously reported</a>, dozens of the administration’s new hires have formerly worked as lobbyists and industry consultants, some of them within the past year.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“The beachhead teams get to operate in obscurity and carry out the cabinet secretaries’ wishes,” said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, which scrutinizes potential political conflicts of interest. “There is no accountability.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Hansen declined comment on whether his former lobbying role could raise a potential conflict. Michael Dakduk, executive vice president and director of government relations for CECU, told ProPublica that the trade group hasn’t “met with Taylor Hansen or engaged with him in terms of the Department of Education.”<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Taylor Hansen’s <a href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/02/trump-expected-to-sign-hbcu-executive-order-218940" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">father</a>, William, also <a href="https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/bio/william-d-hansen" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">worked</a> at the department, as deputy secretary of education from 2001 to 2003. During his tenure, he participated in <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/student-loan-guaranty-agencies-lost-way/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">weakening</a>regulations on for-profit colleges. William Hansen’s former chief of staff at the <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CDIR-2003-07-11/pdf/CDIR-2003-07-11-DEPARTMENTS-13.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">department</a>, James Manning, <a href="https://greatagain.gov/agency-landing-teams-54916f71f462#.56jid0o9b" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">led</a> the Education Department’s landing team during the transition, and has reportedly <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rNnTXYENjT0J:blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/02/a_look_at_staffing_betsy_devos.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">stayed</a> on at the <a href="http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-education/2017/01/new-staffers-arrive-at-education-department-218400" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; color: rgb(34, 98, 204); text-decoration-line: none;">department</a> after the inauguration. (Landing teams were responsible for facilitating the changeover from the Obama administration, while beachhead teams are supposed to provide leadership until key appointees are chosen and confirmed.) The department did not respond to questions about Manning’s current role there.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-family: Georgia, serif; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">...apollo gp phoenix